Blink woke before everyone else in the dormitory. He was still feeling used and abused, but with the always-pleasant bonus of a vicious hangover. He tried to turn over to find a cool spot on his pillow and only succeeded in falling from his top-bunk perch to the hard, unwelcoming floor, causing Racetrack in the bed below his to sleepily punch him in the shoulder and go back to sleep.

Muttering some very creative (and probably impressive, were anyone awake to hear him) oaths, he squinted against the harsh dawn and stumbled into the washroom to drape himself over a toilet and miserably review the previous night's festivities. He heard some half-wakened voices complaining about the noise he was making, but at the moment, didn't give a damn.

As his stomach settled, Blink leaned back against the door of the stall and found blurry visions of his rooftop encounter with Evie there to greet him. Groaning, he tried to clear his head by shaking it vigorously, but that only resulted in further aggravating his nausea.

He groaned and reluctantlyleaned forward to start the whole unpleasantprocess again.

Across town, Evie lay awake and alone in her bed, as she had been since she'd climbed in through her window late the previousnight. She rolled over and caught sight of herself in the mirror of her vanity, saw a face she didn't quite recognize. She saw sad, angry eyes and a pathetic face, blotchy with tears, framed by disheveled hair and surrounded by luxury she didn't want nor deserve.

She was no better than a whore, she thought, just like her grandfather loved to tell her. But he was the one who made her so. She was being sold to the highest bidder, married off to someone she didn't even know, let alone love.

She sat up, finding herself sore, and rose to go bathe, to scrub off the grime of the night before.

The bright sunlight of the late afternoon found the pair standing beside a building in the marketplace, silent and avoiding eye contact. Each had sought the other out for the purpose of having a serious talk, but neither of them knew what to say.

Several minutes passed before Blink could muster up the courage to look at Evie.

"I love you."

Her head snapped up, brown curls bouncing at the sudden movement."Um, I love you too, Blink." She smiled, her eyes softening with his display of sentiment.

"No, it ain't a good thing. We ain't s'posed to love each other." He sighed when her face fell and he shook his head, pushing his hair back from his forehead. "People like you and people like me, we don't belong together. We ain't even s'posed to be friends. What're we doin'?"

It was Evie's turn to sigh this time. "I don't know," she mumbled, going back to staring morosely at the ground. "I loved what we had before everything happened."

"Yeah, but things was gonna happen in the long run anyway, so it wasn't gonna last long." He looked her up and down, that face, that figure that he used to spend days and nights happily picturing but now tormented him. "And now here we are, you're gettin' married to some fella who's got tons of money but prob'ly couldn't find his own ass with a map, an' I'm stuck bein' a newsie."

"We've got a while yet, Blink," Evie offered, biting her lip and looking shyly up at him. God, that face.

"Not really," he muttered back, shuffling his feet in nerves.

"Blink, I--" she started, but was cut off by her personal maid, Louise, climbing out of a carriage and rushing over to them.

"Miss Evelyn, we been lookin' all over the damn city for you. You was s'posed to come right home after school." Louise looked Blink up and down and scowled, turning back to Evie. "We got things to do. We gotta go to the dressmaker and figure out your weddin' dress, an' what with your mama and daddy comin' home tomorrow, we got lots of things to tend to at the house. Can't have you wastin' time in the streets, 'specially talkin' to fellas that ain't your Mr. Post." Again, she turned her eyes on Blink, cold and condescending despite her servant status. "Bound to get you into all kinds'a trouble."

Evie looked from Louise to Blink, a blank, confused look on her face. She obviously had more to say to him, much more, but was terrified to say them in front of Louise. Staring, she silently pleaded with him to figure out a way to get her out, to drag her away from her life even for a little while. But whether he was able to read her face or not, he frowned.

"You should go, Evie."

Evie climbed, or rather, was shoved, into the carriage and watched as she and Blink traveled in different directions. She sulked when he was finally out of sight, resigning herself to listen to the clop-clop-clop of the horses' hooves on the pavement.

Heading home at a considerably slower pace, Blink grumbled to himself, frustrated that his problem was still unsolved.

A/N: I'm aware these chapters are ridiculously short. But I don't believe in putting in crap just to make things longer. I don't like to B.S. my way through things. So, unless things require a lengthy explanation, short chapters are what you and I will have to deal with. Oh well. Anyhow, the reviews just keep piling up for this story, and I really couldn't be more excited. Seriously. Thank you all so, so, SO much. And thank you to Rustie73 for plugging me in her story, Strawberry Day, which I beta'd and I have to say, is completely fantastic. So now that you've gotten your pennylayne fanfic fix (try saying that three times fast...) of the day, either go read that story or curl up with a bowl of popcorn and watch Newsies, which is my plan for right now. Thanks for reading, I love you guys, and please review! Enjoy! -Layne

P.S. To all you fathers out there, if there are any,happy Fathers' Day! And for those of you who aren't fathers, please remember to give your daddies a big hug and thank them for being who they are. :)